Web analytics is the measurement, collection, analysis and reporting of internet data for purposes of understanding and optimizing web usage. One method of performing web analytics is performing analysis of logfiles (e.g., files with the .log extension) in which a web server records some or all of its transactions. A logfile typically includes information about a request to a web page hosted by a web site, including client IP address, request date/time, page requested, HTTP code, bytes served, user agent, and referrer. These logfiles can be read and processed to produce web traffic reports.
As traffic on a web site increases, these logfiles become larger. Typically, processing of log files cannot be done fast enough if the log files are constantly growing due to high traffic to the associated web site. Indeed, for most web sites with heavy traffic, analytics data lags behind by many hours.
Like reference numerals refer to corresponding parts throughout the several views of the drawings.